Events

Community Gatherings at Cemeteries

Many people have the idea that cemeteries are a place full of solemn and mourning, a place that most people want to avoid. Yet more events than just funerals and memorial services take place at memorial parks. Here are examples of events that take place at cemeteries locally and across the country:

Walking Tours: Walking tours are designed to introduce visitors to the history and significance of the cemetery. This can include legends and information about famous people, such as Washington Irving (author of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow) who is interred at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York and Robert Ripley of Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum who is at rest at Santa Rosa Memorial Park.

Concerts: Cemeteries across the nation holding concerts to draw happy families into a place known for solemn. It has become a way for people to think of cemeteries in a more positive light. Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles has drawn thousands into their gates by holding these uplifting concerts every summer. Santa Rosa Memorial Park’s annual Memorial Day –Avenue of the Flags event –with marching band –that pays tribute to military service men and women.

Sunrise Service: The very first Easter Sunrise Service took place in 1732 in Saxony. The unmarried men of the congregation met at the town’s graveyard to sing hymns at sunrise to their Savior Jesus Christ. The following year the whole congregation joined the men and the tradition was born. Four decades later the first Easter Sunrise Service in America took place in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The service is intended to remind people that Jesus Christ no longer lies in a tomb.

Santa Rosa Memorial Park’s Easter Sunrise Service will be held at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, March 31st at Santa Rosa Memorial Park (1900 Franklin Avenue, Santa Rosa CA 95404). Worship will be led by Pastor Zach Vestnys from Calvary Chapel of Petaluma. All are welcome.